Libby's 4th Birthday Party!!!

Last year we didn't do a real birthday party for Libby. And the year before that she shared a birthday part with her sweet friend, Maliah. So this year, after all the hype about Gracie it was time to give Libby a big party. We decided to have a Mickey Mouse Clubhouse Party at our house - upstairs in the playroom. While the structured games like pin the tail on Mickey and Find Pluto's Doggie bones didn't quite go as planned and we ended up outside to set the active ones free, it ended up a great party. Libby dressed up like Mickey Mouse for the party and as everyone arrived she gave each of them their own Mickey ears. The little mice were served mac and cheese for lunch and then Mickey Mouse cake for dessert. Libby received some awesome gifts - many are so perfect for travel and since we have a big trip coming up I am one excited momma that our friends were so creative and thoughtful in their giving. Libby received everything from hotwheels cars and race tracks to Barbies and craft necessities. She continues to love the soccer goal my parents bought for her birthday and is IN LOVE with all the cars and tracks that Grammy, Papa Boots, and Wendy and Robbie (and Brooke) sent her. In fact, a couple of days later Libby got in trouble and the only discipline that worked was taking the cars and race tracks away for 2 days. She is missing those cars something fierce. Tomorrow she will get them back! Whew!

I can't believe Libby is 4. She is growing up incredibly fast and she is a FANTASTIC big sister. She loves on Gracie all the time and celebrates Gracie's milestones without any jealousy. She plays with Gracie and watches over her. She's such a big help to me - which is GREAT since Gracie is crawling now. I need the extra eyes and ears!

Here are the party photos:

Best Friends!

Crawling Chronicles

Last week we noticed Gracie was starting to figure out how to get her chubby thigh out of the way so she could move her foot back into the crawl position. She even moved a pace or two forward, but she wasn't fully crawling until Friday, Nov 13 at the end of Libby's 4th birthday party (to be chronicled in the next post). Since then she has figured out how to crawl like a champ and she is EVERYWHERE! This little sweetie is ready and able to get into anything. With her crawling came a whole new side to her personality and a whole new energy level. She does NOT want to be in her stroller or car seat for very long. The girl is ready to rock and roll - just in time for our LONG car drive across country next week.... YIKES! Without further delay... the crawling chronicles in photos:

serious determination!

These next photos of Gracie in the black sweater are from this morning. Libby wore this sweater around the same age... Gracie just fills it out better! I included a picture of Libby in this outfit so you can compare. Libby was 11 months old in her photo and Gracie is 9 1/2 months old in the same outfit.

(baby fat legs!)

(little chicken legs!)

I LOVE this picture (above)! So Gracie!

October in Pictures

October began with outdoor play and soccer. It continued with the wonderful visit of my parents (detailed in the previous post) and other magical moments along the way including dressing up for trick or treating. Enjoy the photo review of this good month.

Gracie loves the outdoors.

Libby was searching for creatures.

The girl ROCKS at soccer - seriously!

Bright eyes!

Play time is tough stuff.

Pumpkin hunting.

Daddy's girl.

Libby loves nature...a girl after Papa's heart.

Gotta love that smile!

My really cute parents. Their trip and more pics are detailed in previous post.

My chunk of love!

My 2 beauties.

They love each other so much. It's so sweet.

Daddy gets Libby ready for fishing.

Poser.

NOT happy about the rollers and even more unhappy that I was taking a picture of them.

post-rollers.. and a very cute outfit!

The Foote and Gibbons girls.

Thank you Strickland family for this musical leapfrog table. It was Libby's favorite toy and now it is Gracie's!

Sweet Gracie - all cozy and warm so she can cheer her sissy on!

The soccer princess.

The Foote family as pumpkins.

Mickey Mouse

Last minute ballerina.

Mickey and the Cowboy.

The end.

Two Very Special Guests!

My parents have faced incredible challenges over their 39 years of marriage. Most have to do with the rare disease my mom has - called Porphyria. Combining a severe case of porphyria with some other emotional challenges, my mom has become very sick having had strokes and other complications along the way. So for the twelve years I've lived in TX my parents have never been able to visit. My mom did fly out one time when I lived in Ft. Worth, but the main point of her trip was to have me drive her down to Houston for a doctor appointment. She had not had a stroke yet so she was more mobile back then, but still very sick. Dad had to work so he could not come out.

So, for the first time in 12 years, my parents decided "We're going to make this happen as best we can" and they did. Mom and Dad arrived at our home on Oct. 16 very tired, but happy to be here. And my family and I were so excited too! They stayed with us for 8 days. Because of mom's health we were limited to a few hours out each day but we still managed to see a whole host of San Antonio highlights....dinosaur tracks, River Walk, the Alamo, Boerne shopping, The Botanical Gardens of SA, the Guadalupe river, and more! Mom became really weak about half way through the trip and later we found out she has a staff infection in her urinary tract. So please be praying for her to heal from that.

When Billy, the girls and I travel to SC to visit my family we remain very busy seeing all my family and friends who live there. The girls have very little time alone with their Papa and Gigi. So having my parents in our home where the girls could just be alone with them was priceless. We enjoyed cooking special meals and just being with each other.

Dad is working very hard to give mom the care she needs. I am amazed by his strength - emotionally, spiritually, mentally. He is a strong, humble man. And my mom has been sick for so so long. I really can't imagine how she must feel all day long as she struggles to simply get from room to room. Prayers for them are always appreciated.

Mom and Dad, THANK YOU so much for working so hard to come out here. I know it was not an easy trip at all and you arrived back at your home with complete exhaustion. Thank you for your sacrifice!!! Love you both so much!

So - here are the fabulous pictures we took during their stay!

I can't remember the last time I was able to get a picture of me with both mom and dad. I was so glad we got this one!

Dad and Mom with the girls and me.

Billy was our photographer for the day. That's why he isn't in this picture.

Mom holding Gracie.

We went to a pumpkin patch in Boerne with mom and dad. Above and below are two of many cute pictures we got of the girls that day. I'll post more in my next post reviewing all of October.

Mom and Dad bought the big pumpkin for us. The wind was blowing and that's why mom's hair is all coming forward. I promise we didn't let it stay that way!

We are rarely ever able to get a photo of our family together so dad helped us out and captured this one. Of course, it is near impossible to get everyone looking at the camera at once. So here, Libby is not looking. Oh well... Cute picture anyway!

Libby and Billy during our visit to the Botanical Gardens with Mom and Dad.

Dad and I, Botanical Gardens of SA

adding Libby in there.

Mom and Dad bought Libby a soccer goal for her birthday so she can practice. She loves it!!!!

Papa plays soccer with Libs!

Gigi and Papa head home....sad day! But they look really cute!

Link to Gracie's Update

Gracie is now 9 months old. To read an update and see pictures click HERE! Or go to: www.adoptingaria.blogspot.com

The Libster

Libby is almost 4. That makes me want to cry... 4? really? How can it be? But sure enough, next month the celebration of her 4 years of life will arrive. Libby has grown into a whole new little girl in the last few months. Her love for Gracie makes my heart melt. She's beginning to ask big questions about her adoption. Tonight, as a matter of fact, she was looking over pictures on our wall of our first moment holding her and our first moment with Gracie. Then she asked, "mom, why didn't other people end up with me?" She was basically wanting to know how we were the ones who ended up being her parents. We had a great talk about it and in the end she started hugging me and in her baby voice said, "you're MY mommy, MY mommy!" Be still my heart!

Libby is in love with her Bible Reader's DVDs. Its the Bible set to cartoon/movie. She is absorbing knowledge of Jesus and His Word at such a fast pace and with great depth for her age. She is also starting to incorporate some of the lines in the DVDs to situations in other contexts. Sometimes she's dead on. Sometimes she is not. About 2 weeks ago Libby was sitting in my lap and kissing my arm - just being sweet. But then she said, "mom, I don't want to lose you." I was taken back a little since that statement was out of the norm, but quickly we moved on from that conversation. A few days later, Libby was in the tub and she looked at me very seriously and said, "Mom, you are going to die in 3 days." Now I was starting to get scared. I mean, Libby has been somewhat prophetic in the past about some things so I literally started counting the days to recall what we would be doing. It was going to be Monday and we would be at a revival in East Texas. Hmmm... what might happen on that day. I was a bit concerned. Later that evening I told Billy what she said. After a few minutes he started laughing and said, "She got that from her Bible DVD when Joseph interpret's a dream and has to tell his co-jailer that he will indeed die in 3 days." We now laugh everytime her DVD gets to that part. Whew!

It's fun seeing Libby try to incorporate the information she learns into other areas of learning. For instance, Libby is always asking why God made trees, rocks, flowers, grass, etc. I give her answers including science facts and she loves to soak in the details. But one day she had a different idea. She asked, "Mom, why did God make rocks?" After I gave her the basic answer she replied, "No mom, God made rocks so David could kill Goliath." Well... I never thought of it that way, but yeah - maybe so.

Libby is now on a soccer team. She went to one practice, had to miss the first game because we were out of town, and now she has the flu and has missed another practice. Hopefully she can get well and play this weekend. Libby still loves to play drums and keeps asking for lessons... I'm putting that off for obvious reasons (NOISE!). And Libby loves being back in Mom's Day Out. Her teachers are Tanya and Sharon. She loves them both and loves Mrs. Bonnie (the music teacher) as well.

Maybe I'm biased, but Libby gets more and more beautiful everyday, inside and out. Every day I thank God for her.

Eight Months Old and Counting

Gracie Lu turned 8 months on Sept 22. She is growing incredibly fast. She is currently (at 8 1/2 months) 19 pounds and 14oz... just under the big 20!!! She has fat thighs and her arms are filling out too. Her hair is growing into soft precious curls. It mostly grows on the top while the sides and back are still short. Her skin is constantly dry. I've tried a hundred lotions, it seems, and nothing has really worked. I lotion her up every morning and night and have even used baby oil gel... still she is dry and ashy - (advice anyone?).

Gracie is sitting up perfectly with great control of her head, neck and trunk. She rolls everywhere and every-which-way. She recently started sliding backwards on her belly. Since our first floor is mostly tile/wood she backward slides all around the kitchen and living area. When she runs into a wall, she scoots herself around and slides backwards away from the wall. Very cute!

Gracie also recently started putting her hand out and cupping her fingers in and out, as if she is telling us to come near. Gracie and Libby are a delight to watch together, especially in the morning hours. They make each other smile and laugh. They cuddle and bounce and chatter back and forth. I love it!

Almost 2 weeks ago we decided Gracie was able to sleep through the night without a bottle. It only took about 2-3 interrupted nights for her to get it. She now sleeps through the night from 7PM to about 6-6:30AM. We have some seriously early mornings (at least, for me...I haven't regularly seen 6AM in YEARS! I am a late night person learning that early nights are to become the norm for a while). In the last 6 weeks Gracie has also started eating baby foods such as oatmeal, carrots, sweet potatoes, apple sauce, pears, butternut squash, green beans, peas and bananas.

Gracie has been on several long car rides/trips and a few more flights in her short life. She travels alright but definitely is not as content in a car seat as Libby used to be. Gracie will NOT nap unless she is in her own crib or pack n play. She sometimes falls asleep in the car, but as soon as the car comes to a stop for more than 30 seconds - she is up! She is incredibly alert at ALL times.

While Libby is more an observer of people at first meet, Gracie is just the opposite. When she meets new people she leans towards them and then comes back and tilts her head into my chest as she bats her eye lashes and smiles big at the new person. She is such a flirt in that way. I can't describe at all the brightness and life that comes to her eyes when she smiles. The camera just can't do her justice regarding those eyes and smile.

Gracie had her first moment in the playset swing last week and its her new love. She just sits there and smiles as see breezes back and forth. (side note: today while the girls were swinging I was pulling a few weeds without gloves and proceeded to pull up bullnettle (sp?). Uh... can you say PAIN!!!!!!)

Gracie has literally skipped the 3-6 month sizes and is almost in 12 month clothes. Today a box arrived from my sister. It was full of Libby's old clothes that I had let Becky borrow for her youngest. When I opened it I was reminded of all the sweet pictures and moments of Libby in those clothes and then I realized that Libby wore most of those 12 month clothes AFTER she turned one and she was walking. Gracie is only 8 months and not even crawling yet. I'd say she is done "catching up" and has surpassed the "average" for her age body growth. Amazing transformation!

So... here's what you really want to see:

PHOTOS!!!!!!:

I love this pic bc what the girls are wearing reflects them individually very well! Gracie's outfit says, "little miss tea party" and Libby's says "big sister's are the coolest" - which she totally is with that baseball cap.

the cutest gummy grin ever!

not the best pic of Libby, but pic is so true to their sisterhood. Libby loves on Gracie all day long and is usually the only one who can make Gracie laugh.

Gracie's first time out on the swing!

Paci party!

Libby decided to put her hair clips in Gracie's hair. The entire moment was adorable! And below was the end result!

And Gracie's face is saying, "are you sure this is right?"

This was early one morning and Gracie's little face was puffy bc she was still waking up.